6.  The applicant was born in 1955 and lives in Baku.
7.  The applicant worked as a head physician (director) of the Republican Maternity Hospital. In December 1993 the Ministry of Healthcare dispatched an “attestation commission” to the applicant's hospital in order to evaluate the applicant's work performance. In its evaluation report, the attestation commission found that the applicant had been incompetent in administering the hospital's affairs and had committed a number of breaches of her job duties. Based on the commission's evaluation report, by an order of the Minister of Healthcare of 30 December 1993, the applicant was dismissed from her job.
8.  The applicant sued the Ministry for unlawful dismissal, demanding reinstatement in her position and compensation for lost earnings. On 9 September 1994 the Nasimi District Court found that the attestation commission's report had been largely unsubstantiated. Accordingly, the court held that the applicant's dismissal had been arbitrary and ordered her reinstatement as the head physician of the Republican Maternity Hospital. The court also awarded the applicant 87,045 Azerbaijani manats (AZM) as a compensation for lost earnings.
9.  The Ministry of Healthcare did not file any appeals against this judgment and it entered into force. On 14 September 1994 the writ of execution was sent to the Ministry. The Ministry, however, took no action to comply with the judgment. Despite further warnings from the Nasimi District Judge on 13 and 27 October 1994, the Ministry failed to take any steps to execute the judgment.
10.  Following the Ministry's continuous failure to comply with the judgment, on 10 January 1995 the Nasimi District Court instituted criminal proceedings against the Minister of Healthcare and referred the case to the Nasimi District Prosecutor's Office for investigation.
11.  On an unspecified date in early 1995, the Deputy President of the Supreme Court filed a protest against the judgment of 9 September 1994, referring the case for supervisory review by the Presidium of the Supreme Court. On 10 March 1995 the Presidium of the Supreme Court upheld the Nasimi District Court's judgment of 9 September 1994.
12.  On 29 May 1996 the Ministry of Healthcare applied to the President of the Supreme Court with a request to reopen the proceedings and refer the case to the Plenum of the Supreme Court for review. By a letter of 12 August 1996, the President of the Supreme Court rejected this request, noting that the law precluded the parties from filing any appeals for supervisory review in employment-related disputes after a period of one year from the judgment's entry into force.
13.  Meanwhile, the Nasimi District Prosecutor's Office, dealing with the investigation of the criminal case against the Minister of Healthcare, was continuously unable to secure the Minister's participation in the investigation process. Despite a number of summonses sent to him, the Minister did not appear before the investigator for interrogation. Accordingly, on 10 June 1995, 10 November 1995, 12 January 1996, 17 March 1996, 20 June 1996, 20 January 1997 and, finally, on 23 July 2001 the investigator of the Nasimi District Prosecutor's Office issued similarly-worded decisions on suspension of the criminal proceedings on the ground of inability to interrogate the Minister due to the latter's continuous failure to appear before the investigator.
14.  While the enforcement proceedings were pending, on 27 December 1995 the applicant was hired as a part-time physician to the Baku City Healthcare Department. She worked there until 15 April 2003, when she was dismissed due to staff redundancy.
15.  In early 2003, the applicant wrote a letter to the Chief Prosecutor's Office, complaining of the allegedly unjustified delays by the Nasimi District Prosecutor's Office in dealing with the criminal case against the Minister of Healthcare. On 1 February 2003 the Chief Prosecutor's Office forwarded the applicant's complaint for the consideration of the Nasimi District Prosecutor's Office. However, it appears that no further action was taken by the authorities.
16.  The applicant then filed a complaint with the Nasimi District Court, claiming that the investigator had unlawfully suspended the criminal proceedings and asking the court to quash the investigator's latest suspension decision of 23 July 2001. On 1 July 2003 the Nasimi District Court upheld the investigator's decision to suspend the criminal proceedings. On 17 July 2003 the Court of Appeal upheld the district court's decision.
17.  The applicant filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Healthcare, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance, complaining about the non‑enforcement of the judgment and asking for monetary compensation. On 12 October 2004 the Nasimi District Court refused to admit the lawsuit, finding that the applicant's claim concerning reinstatement and compensation had already been granted by the judgment of 9 September 1994.
18.  On 24 November 2004 the Court of Appeal quashed the Nasimi District Court's decision of 12 October 2004, ruling that the first instance court's decision on the inadmissibility of the compensation claim was incorrect. The case was remitted for examination on the merits.
19.  On 17 June 2005 the Nasimi District Court rejected the applicant's compensation claim, finding that the claim was barred by the three-year statute of limitations which had started to run from the date of the entry into force of the judgment of 9 September 1994. On 20 April 2006 the Court of Appeal upheld this judgment. On 12 July 2006 the Supreme Court quashed the Court of Appeal's judgment and remitted the case for re-examination.
20.  Finally, on 25 May 2007 the Court of Appeal re-examined the case, quashed the Nasimi District Court's judgment of 17 June 2005, and awarded the applicant 5,036.87 New Azerbaijani manats (AZN)[1] in compensation for earnings lost due to non-execution of the judgment of 9 September 1994. On 2 July 2007 the applicant filed a cassation appeal against the Court of Appeal's judgment of 25 May 2007, claiming a higher amount of compensation. This appeal was pending before the Supreme Court as of the time of the latest communication with the parties.
21.  Meanwhile, in late 2005 the Minister of Healthcare was dismissed from his position and charged with a number of criminal offences, including offences involving abuse of official power. On 20 April 2007 the Assize Court convicted the Minister of Healthcare on several counts, one of them being his failure to execute the judgment of 9 September 1994 ordering the applicant's reinstatement to her previous job.
22.  On 11 July 2007, by the order of the new Minister of Healthcare, the applicant was reinstated to her position of the head physician of the Republican Maternity Hospital in accordance with the judgment of 9 September 1994. On 13 July 2007 the applicant was paid AZN 5,036.87 awarded by the Court of Appeal's judgment of 25 May 2007.
23.  On 20 July 2007 the Nasimi District Court terminated the enforcement proceedings in respect of the judgment of 9 September 1994.